Big Pharma Isn’t Done Rolling Out Covid Treatments

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Covid-19 isn’t going away anytime soon, and new antiviral drugs may be Big Pharma’s next opportunity. WSJheard explains. WSJWhatsNow

are all conducting late-stage clinical trials for experimental oral antiviral treatments, with results expected by the end of the year. Pfizer is evaluating its candidate in high-risk and low-risk patients who haven’t yet been hospitalized, while a separate Merck trial with its partner Ridgeback Biotherapeutics aims to prevent Covid-19 infections in members of the same household as a patient diagnosed with the disease, with results likely in 2022.

These medications, should they prove effective, would help slow the spread of Covid and help patients recover more quickly. They also have the potential to be a major commercial success. After all, remdesivir sales totaled $829 million in the second quarter this year and have eclipsed $5 billion since the pandemic began. Drugs that work for patients who don’t require hospitalization, or for close contacts of positive cases, could be even more lucrative.

Recent studies have shown that the effectiveness of Covid-19 vaccines is decreasing, though experts say the shots still work well. WSJ explains what the numbers mean and why they don’t tell the full story. Photo illustration: Jacob Reynolds/WSJ Granted, there are obstacles even for effective antivirals; these drugs often require a prompt diagnosis to be useful. And from a financial perspective, these drug companies already have large top lines; Pfizer, Merck and Roche combined for about $150 billion in revenue last year.

Still, fresh growth opportunities for large drugmakers are typically in short supply. The substantial Covid-19 testing apparatus makes a prompt diagnosis and effective use of such medication more realistic than a typical flu case. And governments around the world would likely be willing to buy a lot of medication to help prevent the severe economic consequences that Covid-19 outbreaks and lockdown policies have caused, like shuttered schools and businesses.

 

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Rosenchild heard 🇺🇸 Follow CDCgov, US_FDA, NIH and WHO Guidelines: ☑️ Get Fully Vaccinated for COVID19 ☑️ Get Fully Vaccinated for Other Diseases ✅ Wear a Mask 😷 Around Others ✅ Children Should Wear a Mask 😷 in School ✅ Avoid Large Gatherings ✅ Wash Your Hands with Soap and Water

heard Should they be successful? They’ll simply lie with statistics and force feed them to people regardless with various threats against their ability to provide for their family against a disease everybody has a 99.98% chance of surviving with no drugs.

heard 🇺🇸 Follow CDCgov, US_FDA, NIH and WHO Guidelines: ☑️ Get Fully Vaccinated for COVID19 ☑️ Get Fully Vaccinated for Other Diseases ✅ Wear a Mask 😷 Around Others ✅ Children Should Wear a Mask 😷 in School ✅ Avoid Large Gatherings ✅ Wash Your Hands with Soap and Water

heard Its like when the FBI ruins an FBI terror plot.

heard

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